James Potter: Year One
by TheMarauderingHufflepuff
Summary: James Potter once roamed the same halls as Harry did. We all know Harry's story, its about time we all learnt James', too. This is about James' first year at Hogwarts, from meeting new friends, to making new enemies. After all, even one of Hogwarts' most notorious pranksters has to start somewhere.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

**James Potter: Year One**

** Chapter One: The Hogwarts Express**

James Potter couldn't catch his breath. He felt as though he was being suffocated by his unshakeable nerves and the busy hustle of excited young witches and wizards chattering relentlessly to one another around him certainly wasn't helping. It was not a usual event for James to be brought down by anxiety- for he was normally a mischievous and carefree boy, but today was the exception- much to his annoyance.

Even from a distance, it was easy to tell James was a Potter, for he carried the distinctive male look that travels unchangingly throughout the Potters family. He had the messy, untameable black hair and the round glasses that are always closely associated with his family. Though it was true that if you looked at pictures of the Potter men throughout boyhood, you'd see the striking resemblance, but you'd also see the small differences; whether it is the size of their nose or the colour of their eyes- it was always there. James' hazel eyes differed from his father blue ones and they had a constant twinkle of merriment and scheming, that though his father may have often bore an amused smirk- Mr. Potter did not possess.

Today was September 1st, finally. James had spent several months waiting impatiently and avidly listening to his mother's fond recollections of her years at Hogwarts and mentally noting down his fathers warnings and advice, until finally- now, he was going to Hogwarts. James spent several minutes bidding his parents goodbye, smiling and hugging them. James really just wanted to get aboard the train, where he hoped to make friends and where he knew there was a sweets trolley.

'Bye, James' Mrs. Potter yelled over the shrill whistle of the train, interrupting James' train of thought and frantically pushing her only son aboard the scarlet Hogwarts Express, 'have fun, but I don't want to hear about any detentions! Remember to clean your teeth! Stay out of trouble.'

'Bye,' James shouted back at his mother and father, who had, to his embarrassment begun to run alongside the slow-moving steam; each bellowing instructions and pleas to write soon. Once out of the platform and speeding through London, James wondered idly past several compartments full of much older groups of friends who were bickering playfully and laughing amongst themselves. James could only wish he'd make such good friends; though he had an inkling that he would.

He finally passed a compartment that contained three people- a girl with long, red hair, conversing with a skinny boy with greasy hair and tattered robes. Another boy sat with them- he had well kept black hair and grey eyes, though they seemed intent to ignore him- which was obviously, irritating him to no end and they all seemed to be James age. Taking pity on the third boy, and wanting desperately to make friends, James pushed open the compartment door.

'I'm James.' James said, smiling at the other boy'

'Sirius,' he replied, studying James closely, before relaxing and casually returning the grin, which James took as an invitation and so sat across from him.

'Do you play Quidditch?' James asked, breaking the tension.

'Of course! Who doesn't,' Sirius replied enthusiastically, 'well- other then him that is,' he silently gestured to the greasy haired, pale boy beside him, 'he looks like he'd burn if his skin came into contact with the sun.'

The two boys dissolved into silent laughter, for as long as they could hold it in until James opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the very boy they'd been mocking.

'You'd better be in Slytherin.'

'Slytherin?' James spat, a vile taste in his mouth, 'who'd want to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?' He turned to Sirius, in no doubt he'd readily agree with him, but the boy had turned awkward and tense.

'My whole family have been in Slytherin,' he muttered, not daring to look up.

'Blimey,' James said, shocked, 'and I thought you seemed alright.'

Sirius began to grin, 'maybe I'll break the tradition,' he said, 'where are you going, if you've got the choice?'

'Gryffindor! Where dwell the brave at heart.' James all but yelled, thrusting an invisible sword in the air, 'like my dad,' he added.

He turned on Snape, who had snorted disapprovingly. 'Got a problem with that?'

'If you'd rather be brawny then brainy.' He said with a venomous sneer.

'And where are you going since you're neither.' Retorted Sirius.

'C'mon Severus, lets go.' The red haired girl had finally come to her senses and began to drag the boy out.

'Ooooooo,' James and Sirius said as one, before turning to each other and snickering.

'See ya, Snivellous!' James yelled to Severus' retreating form.

'So, do you think you'll get to be in Gryffindor?' James asked.

'I hope so.' Sirius' smile now seemed strained, his face drained of colour, 'I really don't want to join Slytherin.'

'Anyway,' James tried to change the subject, realising you could practically cut the tension in the room with a blunt knife, 'What position do you play?'

'Any, really- but I prefer beater.'

'It sucks that we can't make it to the team.'

'Yeah, and we're not even allowed brooms, what are we meant to do for a whole _year_ without them.' Sirius moaned.

James smirked, 'steal the school ones.'

'I bet you ten galleons you get caught.'

'You're on.' They shook on it and waited in silence for the sweet trolley.

James knew now that he had a friend in Sirius, whatever family he came from- it didn't matter to James, Sirius was a decent person and they both got on well together. He could only hope they'd be in the same house.

* * *

Before he knew it James was emerging from the Hogwarts Express with Sirius. They followed the rest of the first years to a giant, towering man must have been double the size of an average person, and yet had gentle eyes and an air of kindness about him. The man, who introduced himself in a heavy accent as Hagrid- keeper of the keys at Hogwarts- lead them down to a row of boats with no oars that floated gently atop what appeared through the darkness to be a lake.

'No more 'n four ter a boat.' He commanded and instantly the first years scrambled to the diminutive boats. James and Sirius shared a boat with a blond boy with watery blue eyes that refused to say more then a muttered 'Hi' and a brown haired girl that introduced herself as Mary McDonald.

'Righ' then,' Hagrid murmured from his own, slightly larger boat, 'GO.'

Instantly the boats lurched forward and began an otherwise unusually smooth sail across the lake, each second taking them closer to the castle James had always dreamed of going to. He made eye contact with Sirius, who also looked as if his most solely desired wish had been granted, and he pointed with wide eyes at the castle in the distance. It was as if a fairytale had leaped out of a book become reality- it was truly magical, with its terrifyingly tall towers and its glimmering lights and expansive grounds. James was captivated, entranced, spellbound.

Once they docked the boats they all wondered over to where a black haired woman with stern features and hawk-like eyed stood waiting for them.

'Today is the very start of your Hogwarts career,' she began, 'you will be sorted into your houses, which will be like your family- you will share dorms and have lessons together. You can win your house points, which will be vital in the house cup tournament; but you can also lose points, which I assure you will not bide well with your housemates. Now, follow me- and do neaten yourselves up.' She glanced and James' hair with strong distaste before leading them into the castle.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. I'm going to try to upload once a week, but if I don't then I will make up for it. And I will keep this as close to canon as I can. Stick around for Chapter Two: The Sorting. Please review, I'll take your opinions into consideration when writing further chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

**James Potter: Year One**

**Chapter Two: The Sorting**

James and Sirius stood in a nervous group of first years. It was just minutes after McGonagall had left them alone in an undersized, not to mention bitterly cold, room. The severe professor had stridden away from them without a word, not even soothing the students fears of what was to come. Rumours were currently stating that they had to perform as many spells as they knew; which had caused several people to draw their wand and shoot pathetic red sparks in the faces of their new friends. A boy standing in the most solitary corner, that had a large assortment of faded scars, new and old, visibly scattered all over his face, was murmuring several spells and occasionally flicking his wand until he achieved _Wingardium Leviosa_, which flew in the direction of a wide-eyed Severus, who began to rise steadily from the hard stone floor, the boy with the sandy hair and clear blue eyes blushed embarrassedly and abruptly ended the spell, apologising profusely to Severus, who replied with an icy glare and a sneer.

Before the situation could escalate into chaos, however, McGonagall entered the room and scanned the crowd of first years quickly, finding nothing to criticize- she motioned for the new pupils to follow and she lead them into the Great Hall. It was an extravagant room with a high, curved ceiling that was enchanted to mimic the appearance of the sky outside, and it must have had thousands of candles glittering and glimmering like tiny stars. There were four long tables, each one for a different house and directly in front of the first years was the table for the teachers and a small, rickety wooden stool that had an old and battered hat resting atop it.

To James' surprise, the hat opened a tear that resembled a mouth and began to sing. It sung about the four houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin- it mentioned each houses' merits and told the awed first years just how they were going to be sorted.

'So all we have to do is put on a hat?' James whispered to an incredulous Sirius.

'Not just _a_ hat, but a bloody singing one.' Sirius muttered back.

Their hushed conversation came to a fast end as McGonagall brought out a large piece of parchment, which James presumed had the names of the first years on. He was proven to be correct when the transfiguration professor cleared her throat and called out the first name.

'Black, Sirius.'

James nudged Sirius forward. The heir to the most noble and ancient House of Black stumbled forward, ignoring the smirking Slytherins, who were clearly sure that they would claim another student as their own; James crossed his fingers and hoped strongly that Sirius would be better then his family- that he'd follow his heart, not his expected fate. James watched avidly as Sirius tentatively placed the hat on his head and gripped the side of the stool with his shaking hands. Around half a minute passed, as Sirius' face covered a whole spectrum of emotions; anxiety, dissent, amusement, melancholy and finally- happiness, as the hat bellowed his house.

'GRYFFINDOR!'

It took a moment before the Gryffindors could even process that the heir to a strongly Slytherin house had now joined his families hated enemies; but once they realised they began to clap loudly and clearly, obviously proud and elated to have taken someone in who would have been so precious to their nemesis'. The Slytherins, however, were not so happy with the hats decision and they jeered and hissed at the beaming Sirius who had begun to make his way down to the Gryffindor table. But the sorting moved on quickly and the Slytherins were silenced by McGonagall's withering glare.

'Bones, Amelia.'

'RAVENCLAW!'

James attention began to drain away as he started to observe the hall. He noticed that most of the older students did not seem to care about the sorting, other then those who had a sibling, who still occasionally glanced at their plates with longing, but did not blatantly want the sorting end so they could get on and eat. Albus Dumbledore and his staff obviously felt obliged to listen and watch as slowly the first years trailed off to their respective houses and Sirius regularly glanced at James and smiled as though to assure James that he'd soon be joining his friend at the Gryffindor table. He was hit by a sudden bout of nerves as 'Pettigrew, Peter' joined Gryffindor as it was likely to be him next, and sure enough McGonagall called out his name just as the rowdy applause for Peter ended.

'Potter, James.'

James strode forward, his attention focused solely on the hat. Before long he'd found himself sitting on the chair, lifting the hat onto his head and waiting for something to happen. _Hmmm, there's a lot of potential here, I see. And you already have a friend in Gryffindor- a Black? Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that, _the sorting hats voice filled his mind, _but then today _is_ full of surprises._

'Gryffindor, please, Gryffindor.' James muttered to the hat.

_You could do well there, I suppose, better then in the other houses', I see. Not really studious enough for Ravenclaw and yet you undeniably have masses of talent, but certainly loyal enough for Hufflepuff and yet you don't work too hard. It isn't too difficult, then-_

'GRYFFINDOR!'

James gratefully thanked the hat and gently placed it on the stool before hastily walking over to where Sirius sat joyfully grinning at him. James plonked himself on the bench beside Sirius and across from a pompous fifth year who introduced himself as one of the prefects. When 'Zabini, Marcus,' finally joined Slytherin, James was relieved that a vast selection of beautifully cooked food appeared on the table. He and Sirius didn't even wait, but instead began to pile as much food as possible onto their plates.

* * *

'And this is the Gryffindor common room,' the pretentious prefect said, gesturing proudly around the cosy and inviting room, before continuing, 'now, boys- your common room is up there, the one that is marked first years. Girls, yours is over here…'

The prefect wandered off, leaving James, Sirius and two other boys to discover their dorm room alone. They walked eagerly to the winding staircase that the prefect had indicated they go to and wondered into their room. It was a circular room with four four-poster beds and two large, arched windows. Having claimed their beds, the four boys sat on their beds and settled in comfortable positions.

'I'm Peter Pettigrew.' The trembling boy from the boat ride announced.

'I'm James Potter.'

'I'm Remus Lupin,' the scrawny and scarred boy said, glancing up from his book, _Standard Book of Spells- Grade One._

'Sirius Black.' Sirius replied with a smile, but warily tensing when Peter squeaked nervously.

'Black! But… Why aren't you in…?' Peter trailed off at the glare James sent him.

'Slytherin?' Sirius finished with a strained smile, 'because I'm not like the rest of them, I'm not a bigoted idiot!'

'Sorry, I just…I'm sorry.' Peter muttered anxiously.

'Its okay,' Sirius began to relax again.

'So, anyone reckon they know the way to the Great Hall?' James asked.

'We need a map.' Sirius replied with a yawn.

'Have you seen how big Hogwarts is? If you ever even plot the first floor I'll eat a hippogriff.'

'I'll hold you to that, Potter.' Sirius growled and threw a pillow at James, 'I bet I could do the entire school by the end of second year.'

'Good luck with that.' James said with a smirk, 'so while you spend your time drawing a map, I'll be doing other things…'

'Like what?'

'Planning pranks.' James laughed and then looked at Sirius, 'but if you'll be too busy to help me, I suppose I'll become Hogwarts greatest prankster alone.'

'Fine. I'll help; you'd be rubbish at it without me.' Sirius rubbed his head when the pillow hit him in the face and launched his other pillow at his friend.

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading. I'd like to especially thank jemmaloveshp for commenting so early on in the story. Feel free to comment and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

**James Potter: Year One**

**Chapter Three: The First Day**

'Wake _up_, Sirius!' James said, shaking his friend vigorously.

Sirius, it turned out, was a deep sleeper. No matter what James tried, whether it be shaking him, or diving on him, or even yelling in his ear, Sirius would not awaken. Eventually James poured water on his face and Sirius' eyes flew open and he spluttered confusedly for a moment, looking around the dorm. Finally his eyes settled on James.

'It wasn't a dream?' He asked.

'No, it wasn't,' James replied, 'it's the first day of classes today _and_ we're late, so hurry up, mate.'

'You should have woke me up earlier!' Sirius said indignantly as he pulled his socks on.

'Trust me, I tried.'

James and Sirius ran from the common room and tried their best to remember the way to the Great Hall, sprinting off down various random corridors, which often led them to doors that wouldn't open or dead ends. They kept on finding themselves back at the fat ladies portrait, who was also growing annoyed at the boys lack of knowledge about the layout of the school, despite them only having been there one day.

'Honestly,' she huffed, on their third return to her portrait, 'someone ought to make a map of this blasted place.'

'Exactly!' Sirius said, smirking victoriously at James.

Fortunately when they finally arrived, exhausted and out of breath, there was still plenty of food left, however, unfortunately, to Sirius' anguish, just as they claimed their seats, a horde of owls swooped in, though they weren't all the cause of Sirius' evident despair- the majestic owl that was clearly well-kept and had a red letter attached to its talons, clearly was. It landed in front of the young Black, smouldering, with its edges smoking.

'Open it, Sirius. It'll be worse if you don't.' James said, wondering the cause of the Howler so early on in term.

Sirius did open it. He sat back casually as the envelope unravelled and began to shout abuse at the boy who was now spreading jam on a piece of buttered toast.

'YOU FILTHY BLOOD TRAITOR,' the letter screeched, making half of the Great Halls occupants jump and stare blatantly at Sirius, 'HOW DARE YOU DISGRACE YOUR FAMILY LIKE THIS? YOU OUGHT TO BE ASHAMED! I ALWAYS KNEW YOU'D DISAPPOINTMENT! YOUR BROTHER REGULUS WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER HEIR THEN YOU, YOU FAILURE!

By now Dumbledore was looking at Sirius in concern and the entire student body was staring with wide eyes at him. The staff was obviously uncertain of what to do, glancing at each other in worry and trying not to stare at the Black heir.

'SCANDAL AND SIN, YOU ARE A DESPICABLE, HIDEOUS CREATURE! YOU'RE NO SON OF MINE!'

The letter burst abruptly into flames and Sirius nonchalantly wiped the ashes off the table and took a bite into a croissant from a nearby platter.

'Was that your mother?' James asked Sirius; when everyone had grown bored of watching Sirius eat.

'Yeah, I guess she didn't approve of my sorting.'

James snorted, 'you can say that again.'

'She never really liked me; anyway, I think I was a bit too decent for her.' Sirius shrugged, 'with a bit of luck maybe she'll blast me off the family tree.'

Before James could comment, however a voice from behind interrupted them, 'here are your timetables, do try get to your lessons on time- I noticed your rather tardy entrance this morning.'

McGonagall had handed them both their timetables and moved promptly onto the girl next to them. James and Sirius had, to their delight- identical timetables, and they both quickly ditched their food and headed to first period- transfiguration.

McGonagall had seemed to anticipate James and Sirius' mischievous characters and had therefore placed Sirius next to a Hufflepuff named Samuel Williams and James beside Remus Lupin. Remus appeared to be extremely studious, rather quiet and kind. James didn't really know what to think of Remus, since he had so far ignored Sirius and himself, seemingly preferring the company of various different books, but James knew he couldn't judge Remus until he go to know him. They spent most of the lesson making long and complicated notes, the likes of which James was sure no one but Remus understood. But luckily, just as James had begun to succumb to the depths of boredom, McGonagall gave them each a matchstick and told them to turn it into a needle.

'You know, it was really funny when you levitated Snape yesterday,' James said between failed attempts to transfigure the match.

'It was an accident,' Remus blushed and then twitched in irritation at the difficulty of the spell.

James shrugged, 'a hilarious one.'

'Accident or not- I'm not sure I've made a friend in Snape.'

James laughed, 'You think?'

'How're you doing that?' Remus frowned, indicating to James' match, which was turning silver and vaguely pointy.

'Honestly?' James said, and when Remus nodded eagerly, 'I've got no idea.'

* * *

James sat with Sirius in their dorm after double herbology and an arduous and tough history. Both had been amongst the first to drift to sleep during Binns class and they quickly realised they'd have a low chance of ever learning a thing from the ancient ghost. They'd entered in high spirits, having thoroughly enjoyed their day so far- that changed quickly when Binns began to drone on about a bloody and gory Goblin Revolution, which he made sound as boring as watching paint dry. James truly had tried to take notes, but looking back into his history book all there was were several incomprehensible scrawls.

'James,' Sirius begun.

'Yes?'

'This castle is really old, right,'

'Of course, must be a thousand years old, why?' James asked.

'There are probably secret passages, then,' Sirius said, 'and considering how late we were to just about everything today, I suggest we find some.'

'Why not?' James shrugged and jumped out of bed, grinning at Sirius.

**Thanks for reading again. I'm sorry its a tiny bit shorter then usual, but I am saving some of this chapters content for Chapter Four, please review and have a good day.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

**James Potter: Year One**

**Chapter Four: New Friends**

The Gryffindor common room was empty. It was late at night and James and Sirius were sneaking out, resolute on discovering a secret passage. They stealthily crept through the deserted room and pushed the portrait open, relieved to see that they had not disturbed the fat lady from her slumber. They inched carefully down corridors, tentatively nudging paintings and examining tapestries. Sirius and James worked in silence, hopefully anticipating their oncoming discovery.

Optimism had begun to run dry, however, when they'd been searching without success for a long hour and fatigue from their first day of classes was beginning to settle in. James' actions had become robotic, systematically checking a painting, shuffling to the next one and on and on.

'Blimey,' James cried as he fell through a tapestry depicting an ancient battle scene, 'Sirius, I found one!'

'What?' Sirius ran at a speed James didn't know was physically possible and charged behind the antique piece of art.

'Wait up;' James followed Sirius through the shadowy passage, keeping his eyes on his astonished friend, 'where'd you reckon it leads?'

'How would I know?' Sirius shrugged.

'And we're going anyway?'

'Of course.'

'Great,' James laughed and dragged Sirius down the rest of the passage.

The route was a long and winding one with mysterious shadows and steep steps in unexpected places. Inevitably, James and Sirius often tripped and stumbled, dragging the other down with them and laughing at their clumsiness. But when they emerged into a dark and long corridor, they saw that they weren't alone. The silhouette of a scrawny boy was set against the wall directly in front of them.

'Hello? Who's there- James? Sirius? Is that you?' Remus Lupin asked, gazing at James and Sirius with confusion in his eyes, 'why are you out here?'

'We could ask you the same question,' Sirius shot back defensively.

Remus backed away slightly, his eyes suddenly possessed a weary look, 'McGonagall wanted a word.'

Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but James cut him off abruptly, 'I hear footsteps.'

Filch rounded the corner and, to their horror, began to approach them, looking down at his breaking and ill-fitting shoes. James made to run for the passage, but in the exits place was solid wall. Remus saw this and hastily pushed Sirius and James behind the nearest suit of armour. It only fit two. Remus was visibly shaking, but he stood his ground in the centre of the corridor, wiping the sweat of his brow, he adopted a concerned look and walked towards Filch.

'Sir, I was just talking with professor McGonagall,' he started, staring anywhere but at Filch's face and James and Sirius, 'and I was wondering if you could possibly point me in the direction of the-', Remus trailed of at Filch's sneer.

'It was _you_ who set off that dungbomb on the third floor, wasn't it?' Taking Remus' shocked silence for confirmation; he gripped a startled Remus by the ears and dragged him off, promising detention and much worse.

Remus served his detention the next day, and he returned to a sympathetic James and Sirius with blistered hands and vowing never to go near the trophy room again. James and Sirius had tailed Remus and Filch to the irritable and grouchy squibs office. Remus had emerged pale and shaking minutes later, his scars more noticeable then ever. The boys had sat next to one another the following day in lessons and ate lunch as a three.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Remus, James and Sirius became as inseparable as strong magnets, they did everything together; they copied Remus' history notes, they stole one another's breakfast, they joked and they laughed- and they begun to prank.

'Sirius! James!' Remus yelled one Saturday morning, marching down the dormitory stairs, with deep purple hair, 'what did you do to me?'

'Nothing much, you know, little tweaks.' James said innocently, 'nothing noticeable,' he added weakly, staring at Remus' drawn wand and drawing his own, which promptly turned into a rubber chicken. He fled the room immediately, with Remus in close pursuit and Sirius running after them, crying with mirth. But fun was halted by a familiar boy with a hooked nose and greasy hair that contrasted badly with a sickly pale complexion.

'Should have known it would be you three idiots,' the boy sneered viciously at James and his friends, his eyes filling with stabbing hatred and fury, 'who else runs like they've got nothing better to do, I suppose studying is pointless to dunderheads like you- not even Dumbledore could make you understand a thing.'

'Take it back Snivellous, you filthy Slytherin,' Sirius gritted his teeth in rage and his clenched hand was moving towards his wand.

'I expect you're jealous, aren't you?' Severus said, 'you're a Black, but the only one that's a failure enough to be in Gryffindor. How disappointed your mother must be- but by the sounds of that Howler, she won't have to bear that title for long-'

Snape was interrupted by a loud _bang_ as Remus and James simultaneously hexed Snape until his face was no longer recognisable. His front teeth were growing at an alarming rate and he had received a strong stinging hex. Sirius had just walked away. Glancing anxiously at one another, James and Remus ran away from the Slytherin and thoroughly searched the castle for their friend.

They found him in the owlry, staring out of a large and open arched window, at a large tawny owls retreating form. He did not turn, and for a long while did not acknowledge their presence, but sat in silence, hunched on a stiff and splintery wooden chair.

'I'm worried about my brother,' was what he said, when he did finally decide to speak, 'Regulus. He's alright, but he has to spend a year alone with my mother, he'll be corrupted, I know it. A proper little Slytherin by summer, I bet.'

'If he's anything like you, he'll be sorted in Gryffindor before we know it.' James said, smiling and resting a hand on his friends shaking shoulder.

'But that's just it, he's always hated it when I upset or anger mother and father, and they won't be pleased at my sorting. He'll be determined to make them happy. He'll be sorted into Slytherin.' Sirius shook his head and gathered his stuff up, violently shoving it into his bag, 'and he'll have been trained to hate me.'

**Again, thanks for reading. Hope you liked the chapter, for those who wanted to know Peter will be coming into the story soon. Please review and stay around for next week and Chapter Five.**


End file.
